Spraying a sunburst

[oipunkguy]

Hey guys. I thought you might enjoy this thread. here's a Roscoe bass I'm finishing right now for a customer. It's an ash body and I'm spraying a faded cherry sunburst. a lot of guys use things like cardboard cut outs to get perfect lines on sunburst finishes, and I'm not to say they are wrong, but I find a "perfect" looking burst doesn't look real to me.

When I spray these I always spray the outside first. and spray it several times to I find the darkness I want in the burst. now a days I usually make the lacquer in shop with clear and toner, but reranch three color edge works great. also for a more vintage look, you can spray the brown colored 2 tone edge too to make it more tobacco looking, or use can use more burst amber on the sides to get it more orangey-yellow. it seems like every time I do one of these, the first time out I'm not happy with the results and I always end up redoing the finish at least one time.

my point is don't be afraid to play with the finish. Ash is a fairly yellowy looking wood when it's clear coated, so when the lacquer dries I softly sand the inside section with a 500 grit buffing pad to give the burst more depth (and remove any unwanted spray that reached the center). on a maple top I would spray the whole guitar with burst amber after spraying the out side edge, but with this bass I just sprayed clear in the center. also it's perfectly okay to spray the center color on top of the out side edge color for this type of burst. this doesn't always apply for all burst finishes though.

again, I'm not telling people how to finish, but maybe this will give some of you guys out there that want to do this more courage to try it out. it's actually pretty easy to do, with a little practice I been wanting to try of a classic mosrite burst for a while now, can't wait to try it

[oipunkguy]

before the re-finishing



after stripping the old finish and applying sanding sealer




after spraying the body with a thin coat of clear




the first spraying of the burst

[oipunkguy]

keep in mind this is just the beginning, the burst isn't dark enough for my liking on the edge yet, so I will continue to spray it.

here's another I did last year.

[Veenture]

A joy to see the transformation taking place....in just a couple of seconds!
Thanks Aaron for posting.

[Sarah93003]

That is totally cool Aaron! I love learning how things are done. Please keep the pics coming!

[GattonFan]

Aaron - are you spraying the body with it laying flat on that stool??? You don't hang it to spray it?
Dennis

[Dnepr]

If I spray with thin lacquer, or aerosol I lay it flat for a 'burst. If I use my "Real Rig" and lay it on thick, I'll do it hanging.
I should note however, that I am a total hack at this stuff!

[oipunkguy]

hey Dennis,

I've tried both ways, and I find laying it flat works far better. the only downside to this way is to watch for dust getting in your finish. laying it down allows you to get the most important part first (the outer edge or side of the body) once you have this part down, you can start to spray closer to the center of the body. usually when there a contour, I spray farther in. no technical reason for this, I just think it looks better in my opinion.
notice that the burst isn't perfect, but think of it this way. this is a recreation of a faded out cherry sunburst, and these that you see usually on 50's les pauls. if you ever look at these they are always uneven due to play wear and sun fade.

here's a helpful hint. if you try this, more then likely you will get some over spray closer to the center then you will want. remember that I first sprayed the guitar first with a coat of clear? this is a good reason why. it gives you room to work with, while you do a little light sanding out in the center with out mucking up the color. before spraying the amber color in the center (if this was a lighter wood, maple, spruce, etc) I recommend spraying a clear coat again before spraying the center color.

another hint. be careful not to spray too wet at first, because in certain conditions the lacquer can fish eye. a good way to prevent this is to make sure the conditions in the room isn't too humid, or too hot of cold. if the conditions are comfortable for you, then it should be comfortable for your guitar. also, very important, always spray your first coats very dry, until you begin to build up the finish.

Here's the new pics from last night. enjoy

[oipunkguy]

If I spray with thin lacquer, or aerosol I lay it flat for a 'burst. If I use my "Real Rig" and lay it on thick, I'll do it hanging.
I should note however, that I am a total hack at this stuff!



hey, it wasn't too long ago now when I was a hack myself

other guitars I'm working on is a nice taylor acoustic, refinishing it all natural, but need to fix the binding first, also an american strat refinish in olympic white, and my brother's 70's japanese strat copy which he wants it finished in.... PINK SPARKLE!!!! I will be using glitter he bought at a craft store, lol (not kidding)

[GattonFan]

Looking good, Aaron. I'm lazy though - If I did that often, I'd build one of those "spits" that you can turn the guitar on to spray it ... but this seems to work well for you! Keep the pix coming ...

Dennis